Word: libyans
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...another evasive maneuver, the F-14s dove to 3,000 ft. This gave the Navy flyers a tactical advantage: their radar could now look up for a clear view of the approaching targets. The less sophisticated Soviet-made radars on the Libyan craft had to contend with the clutter...
...radar-intercept officer (RIO), seated behind the lead Tomcat pilot, armed his plane's short-range Sidewinder missiles and its longer-range Sparrow rockets. Outmanned and outgunned in their less maneuverable Floggers, the lone Libyan pilots had to fly their planes, watch their radars and handle their weapons without airborne help...
...pilots made three more efforts to shake their pursuers. Each . time, observers in a Navy E-2C radar plane flying nearby heard the Libyan ground controller order the MiG pilots to jink into potential collision courses with the Tomcats. The MiGs normally carry radar-guided Apex as well as heat-seeking Aphid missiles. While the Aphid homes in on a jet's fiery exhaust, the Apex is effective when launched at a target's nose...
...noon the trailing Tomcat flying in the wing position locked its radar on one of the Floggers. In numerous past skirmishes, Libyan pilots had reported any such radar targeting to their ground controller, who had always told them to break off and head home. This time, U.S. authorities insisted, the pilot did not send any such alarm...
...Kennedy was sailing to the east last Wednesday. The carrier was near Crete, more than 600 miles away from the Rabta plant and 120 miles off recognized Libyan territorial waters, when the unexpected combat situation arose. Even the Libyans had to know that the F-14s were fighters on routine patrol, not bombers carrying out an attack...